The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is an independent, nonprofit news service serving thousands of supporters of the Philadelphia public schools. Their mission is to promote informed public involvement in the Philadelphia public schools and to contribute to the development of a strong movement for educational change in the city. By providing information and analysis of educational issues, they support the efforts of parents, teachers, students, and communities to organize for improved conditions in their schools. They want to see schools that are affirming of all students, enabling them to become critically thinking, active participants in society.
Starting with the 2010-11 school year, some neighborhood schools were turned over to charter operators. The Notebook wanted to know how the changes affected catchment areas and feeder patterns. Nse developed maps to evaluate how catchment areas for schools have changed as a result of the Renaissance Schools Initiative.
It was the hope of The Notebook that these maps over time would likely illustrate how the catchment areas and feeder patterns in different neighborhoods are being consolidated for different charter providers, e.g. “the balkanization of the School District.”
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